Different metals were put to the test to substitute for silver

This plate from the Battelle Memorial Institute coinage study shows experimental quarter-dollar size strikes in several metals, including, upper right, the clad composition that was subsequently adopted for use in U.S. coinage. Image courtesy of Battelle Memorial Institute.

1759-dated Martha Washington “quarter dollar” from the Battelle Memorial Institute test runs at the Philadelphia Mint in the early 1960s.
Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions

August Frank Co. produced an extensive series of private patterns for DuPont including this “quarter dollar” with Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and a legend on the reverse identifying the composition as DETACLAD. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions

With the Coinage Act of 1965 realizing its 50-year
anniversary, Coin World has a chance to revisit the Coinage Act
as its grassroots in U.S. numismatics. Over the 1950s and 1960s, as
the public began to show interest, and the price of silver rose,
silver would become quite limited. These new dynamics were solved by
the use of clad compositions when creating dimes, quarter dollars,
half dollars and dollars moving forward.

In 1963 the Treasury Department, concerned that the nation would run
out of silver, began studying alternative metals, hiring the Columbus,
Ohio, research operation, Battelle Memorial Institute, to investigate
possible solutions.

The fruits of that study were released into circulation Nov. 1,
1965, as the nation turned its back on the nearly 175-year tradition
of silver coinage and switched to copper-nickel clad dimes and quarter dollars.

Silver prices had been rising since 1943, when an ounce of silver
averaged just 38.3 cents. Rising demand, especially in the photography
industry, pushed prices above 90 cents in 1956 and over $1 in 1961.

Mint and private patterns

An extensive series of private and Mint patterns was produced in the
run-up to clad coinage. Many are known only by footnote in official
reports. Others are readily available on the collector market.

Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, which was chosen by
the Treasury Department to study possible replacement metals, oversaw
the production of pattern dime-size, quarter-dollar-size and
half-dollar-size experimental “coins” in 17 metals.

The International Nickel Co., August Frank for DuPont, and Corning
Glass Works also produced their own patterns.

In its Feb. 12, 1965, Final Report on A Study of Alloys Suitable for
Use as United States Coinage, Battelle reported, “A number of possible
candidate materials were selected and taken to the Philadelphia Mint
in the form of rolled strip to determine how well they could be
blanked and upset, and coined. ... For the actual coining process,
special dies were prepared by the Mint designers and engravers, which
would duplicate as nearly as possible both the obverse and reverse
design features of a typical dime, quarter, and half-dollar. “

The three Battelle pattern “denominations” show a bust of Martha
Washington on the obverse and Mount Vernon on the reverse. All are
dated 1759, the year George wed Martha.

U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Edward R. Grove designed the obverse and
signed it with his initials below Martha’s bust. U.S. Mint
Sculptor-Engraver Philip Fowler designed the reverse. His initials,
which are often indistinct on the handful of surviving patterns,
appear below the right side of Mount Vernon.

The designs were reprised in 1982 and 1999 for the striking of
“cent” and “dollar” patterns before the metals for those two
denominations were changed.

For the Battelle study, the Philadelphia Mint produced “dimes” in 15
metals, ranging from 50 percent silver/50 percent copper to the
adopted copper nickel-clad copper. The “quarter dollar” was tested in
17 metals, and the “half dollar” in just four.

Seven silver alloys and two copper-nickel alloys passed all tests
with a “satisfactory” or “coined well” rating. The adopted clad
combination was rated “some difficulty” in the upsetting process, but
the study noted the resulting surface roughness near the edges could
probably be controlled in the rolling and annealing procedures.

Photographs in the Battelle report show a dozen pattern “quarter
dollars.” The stainless steel pieces did not strike up well and are
noticeably rough at the edges. Several other metals, too, resulted in
patterns with poor edge detail. The illustrated pieces all show the
date close to the rim. Some pieces that have appeared on the market
since show the date closer to the bust.

Only a handful of the original patterns survive, and all but one are
believed to be of the adopted clad type. In an April 22, 1975, letter
to noted coin dealer Abe Kosoff, Mint Director Eva Adams, said, “to be
sure no coins were ‘lost’ while being viewed at official hearings,
etc. we had them embedded in a large plastic ‘block’ which no one
certainly could ‘pocket’ accidentally or otherwise.

One of these was presented to the Smithsonian Institution.” The
Society of U.S. Pattern Collectors’ website, uspatterns.com, reports
the Smithsonian has two blue Lucite blocks, each containing a “dime,”
“quarter dollar” and “half dollar.”

The pattern website notes two clad “dimes,” ten clad “quarter
dollars,” one nickel “half dollar” and about half a dozen clad “half
dollars” are known to exist.

Despite their great rarity, the pieces tend to sell for about $5,000
on the rare occasion that they appear at auction.

The International Nickel Co. went after the Mint’s business with a
vengeance, even commissioning Kennedy half dollar designer Gilroy
Roberts to produce “coinlike” designs for private pattern dimes,
quarter dollars and halves. In early 1964, INCO produced an extensive
series of private patterns featuring the date 1964 on the obverse and
TEST PIECE No. on the reverse.

In late summer, these were supplanted by the Roberts’ designs
showing former company president Paul D. Merica (who died in 1957) on
the obverse and an aerial view of a lab dedicated in 1964 in his
memory on the reverse. Roberts’ famous GR monogram appears on the
truncation of Merica’s bust.

These pieces tend to sell for a few hundred dollars apiece. In early
2015, a lot of 58 test pieces from the estate of an INCO official sold
for $7,050 at a Heritage Auctions sale.

Philadelphia’s private August Frank Co. mint struck trial pieces in
several designs for DuPont. Many of the pieces appear to have been
struck with heritage dies from Frank’s vault, including a Benjamin
Franklin Federal Savings store card and a 1932 Amelia Earhart medal.

The Battelle report makes passing reference to “nonmetallic coinage
materials, such as plastics and ceramics,” but did not evaluate them.

In United States Patterns and Related Issues, Andrew W. Pollock III
reports that Corning Glass experimented with translucent glass “half
dollars.” The uniface pieces are dated 1964 and show John F. Kennedy
and the word LIBERTY, much like the Kennedy half dollar coin. Only one
piece is known to exist.

Some faddish prices

Coin collecting was hot in the early 1960s. Collectors and
noncollectors were searching change in the hope of finding rare coins.
Investors and speculators were even putting coins away by the bag.

Here are some prices taken from the Feb. 10, 1965, issue of Coin
World, which was printed just as Battelle Memorial Institute was
finishing work on its report on next-generation coinage.

London’s of Brooklyn was big in the bag market, offering 1962-D
Franklin half dollars at $625 a bag, plus shipping.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.